This invention relates generally to entertainment and exercise devices, and specifically relates to a toy for household pets, particularly cats.
Cats are a popular pet all over the world. There are over 55 million pet cats in the United States alone. Cats require regular exercise and stimulus to remain healthy. As cats are naturally hunters, in the wild cats obtain such exercise through their hunting activities. Unfortunately many pet cats are kept indoors where they have little opportunity to exercise naturally through hunting, and these pet cats receive little stimulus from an unchanging indoor environment. One way to provide indoor pet cats exercise and stimuli is to give them animals to hunt. Giving indoor cats animals to hunt, however, is not always a practical solution as it may result in a mess requiring cleaning. Also rodents, the likely choice of prey for cats, may be considered to be too unsanitary to be allowed loose inside of a home. This is particularly true as there is always a possibility that the rodent would evade the cat and end up infesting the home. Finally, some people may consider providing cats prey for hunting distasteful, and possibly even cruel and unethical.
Many cats live partly outdoors and thereby have an opportunity for exercise and stimulus. These cats, however, are exposed to numerous dangers. Pet cats that live in urbanized areas are exposed to dangers from severe weather, cars, machinery, environmental pollutants and poisons, and other domestic animals such as dogs. Pet cats that live in suburban or rural environments are additionally exposed to natural predators such as coyotes. All cats that live partly outdoors risk exposure to serious or fatal diseases from other animals, and exposure to nuisance parasites such fleas and ticks. Some of these parasites may be passed onto humans. Many of the common remedies for feline diseases and parasites are costly in terms of time and money.
A cat""s natural hunting instincts can be sublimated into playing and exercising with small toys or strings. This is often unsatisfactory for the cat because they can get bored with inanimate objects. Having a human move or operate a toy or object can increase a cat""s interest. But a human moving or operating a cat""s toy is often unsatisfactory for both the human and the cat since some people do not have time to play with their cat, some people get tired moving an object around for their cats, and sometimes a person will get scratched or bitten by a cat in the course of playing with it.
Additionally, some people are allergic to cats and should avoid getting close to them or touching them. Indeed, pregnant women may be advised to avoid cats since their unborn child could contract the disease toxoplasmosis from a cat.
Additionally, some people enjoy watching their cats play regardless of any benefit to the animal. This fully automated cat toy provides entertainment in the form of a playing cat without trivial effort on the part of the person.
The present invention provides a method for stimulating and exercising cats, thus giving them healthier lives. The present invention provides this in an indoor setting, thus allowing owners to reduce or eliminate the amount of time their cats spend outdoors. This reduces the cats exposure to diseases and other dangers, and reduces the owner""s exposure to parasites such as fleas and ticks.
The present invention provides a body, a means to propel the body in a series of varying pseudo-random directions, and one or more moment members that through their linear stiffness and angular moment translate the motion of the body into random motions of the end of the member. Such randomized motions of the member and the end of the members are useful for enticing exercise and play in cats and other animals. Such random motions of the member and the end of the members are more interesting to animals than repetitive non-random motions, thus serving to elicit more exercise over a longer period of time than a toy with repetitive motion.
The object moves randomly due to the contact of the surface of the object with another surface. Therefore the moment of inertia of the object for this description is assumed to be measured about the physical center of the surfaces of the object that contact the ground and other objects, and not the center of gravity of the object.
If the moment of inertia of the member when the member is stiff is not offset by an equal moment of inertia of a counterweight on the object opposite the member, then the random motion of the object will tend to be such that the end of the member tends to move towards the ground. If the counterweight has a moment of inertia significantly greater than the member, then the object will tend to randomly orient itself more often with the counterweight down. One embodiment of the present invention is with a counterweight approximately equal in moment of inertia to the member. In this embodiment the member during its random motions will always spend some time near the ground and some time pointed away from the ground. This phenomenon is explained by the xe2x80x9cdrunkard""s walkxe2x80x9d paradigm of random motion in one dimension. For purposes of explanation the one dimension applicable to this paradigm is the angle between the member and the ground. This embodiment creates a random motion where the member alternates between moving both quickly over the object, and then bouncing along the ground. This type of movement has been observed to be very enticing to cats.
The force of gravity tends to bend a flexible or semi-flexible member towards the ground. One embodiment of the present invention with a flexible member is where the member is of sufficient length and flexibility such that the distal end of the member remains just in contact with the ground when the object is oriented so that the member is perpendicular to the ground where it attached to the object and the object is not moving.
In one embodiment more than one member is attached. In another embodiment multiple members are of different length or manufacture. In some embodiments members are of varying dimension, with the members conveying mechanical motion from the body to the end of the member. In various embodiments the members are connected to the body at different spots on the body, and at varying angles. In another embodiment the members are jointed or hinged. In different embodiments the members may have multiple hinges, and in some embodiments are hinged or jointed where they attach to the object. In some embodiments toys, lures, and other objects are attached to the end of the member to provide further stimulus to the animal.
The members may be stiff and inflexible, partly flexible, or flexible. Parts of a member may be stiff while other sections may be flexible. More than one body may be used, with each body at the either end of a member. In some embodiments the members are branched, and in other embodiments members are connected to the body at more than one point.
The members are made of various materials such as wire, solid plastic, hollow plastic, inflated plastic, wood, ceramic, cardboard, or combinations thereof. Solid and hollow plastic is a preferred material because it is safer, inexpensive, non-toxic, and resists damage caused by the animal, does not conduct electricity and does not scratch household furniture.
A soft attachment at the end of the member reduces the possibility of the end of the member scratching or damaging furniture, an animal, or a person.
In one embodiment random motion is induced on the object internally by mounting a small motor capable of moving a small weight within the body. In another embodiment, the random motion is induced on the object externally by placing a body on a vibrating platform. The random motion may also be induced on the object externally by connecting the body with a spring or spring-like device to a device having a repetitive motion. The random motion may be induced on the object externally by placing the body in a container with other moving objects, thus creating random motion through Brownian motion.
In other embodiments the device is constructed with aural cues, such as beeping or chirping, generated by a device in the member or body. In yet other embodiments the device is constructed with odor cues, such as catnip, generated by a device in the member or body. In yet other embodiments the device is constructed with visual cues, such as string, feathers, common cat toys such as toy mice attached at the ends of one or more members. The device may also include scratchable substances, such as rope, cloth, or fur attached at the end of a member or even covering all or part of one or more members or some or all of the body. In other embodiments the device is constructed with chewable or biteable toys, or a chewable or biteable substance such as stuffed cloth attached at the end of a member. In other embodiments the device is constructed with a timer such that the device alternates between random motion and no movement.
Many of the attendant features of this invention will be more readily appreciated as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description considered in connection with the accompanying drawings.